It doesn’t take much to get
arrested in the Hermit Kingdom. All it takes is watching the wrong thing,
or saying the wrong thing, or…smiling? Here are some more of the craziest regular
things that are illegal in North Korea. Have you ever been in one of those work meetings
where the boss goes on, and on, and on? The next thing you know, you’re dozing off - until your
boss slams his fist on the table. In most cases, that’ll get you a dressing down in front of the
entire staff. If you’ve done it before, it might get you fired. But in North Korea, falling
asleep in a meeting while the country’s boss, Kim Jong Un, is talking is a much more serious
affair. It can carry the death penalty, and in 2015 an unfortunate defense minister was publicly
executed with an anti-aircraft gun for dozing off. Respect for the Kim family is
serious business in North Korea. It’s a scenario no one wants to contemplate -
what do you save in the event of a fire? That was the choice facing one unfortunate North Korean
mom in 2020, and the first thing she did was save her children from the blaze. Unfortunately,
that left her facing jail time - because every family is required to hang a portrait of
North Korea’s founder Kim Il-Sung in their home, and allowing any harm to come to it is considered
a crime. One would think a fire counts as special circumstances - but even failing to dust it
properly can get you a visit from the police. And don’t even think about talking about these
weird rules to your friends on the internet. That’s because the internet, as we
know it, does not exist in North Korea. Access to unfettered online communication is
strictly banned, as is any use of social media sites. The people of North Korea who have
internet access are few and far between, and civilians only have access to a very
limited number of sites under a closed system named Kwangmyong. Estimates vary, but it’s
no more than fifty-five hundred - compared to over a billion worldwide. Unauthorized use of
the internet through Wi-Fi or private servers can result in imprisonment or even death.
Of course, this doesn’t necessarily apply to the highest reaches of North Korea’s
government - a common theme on this list. But at least you can go for
a nice relaxing drive, right? Not so fast. Cars are scarce in North Korea for
a number of reasons - the first of which being that the country is very poor. Very few people
can afford a car, especially with the only way foreign cars get into the country being through
smuggling. But even if someone has the money, getting that need for speed won’t be easy.
Government regulations only allow about one in one hundred people to own a car, and those
approved are only male government employees. Women are not allowed to drive at all. Even the ones
working as the country’s famous traffic officers. It’s not the only rule that makes
moving around the country difficult. Like all countries, North Korea has border
controls. But in most other countries, moving from state to state is easy. You don’t
need to fill up any paperwork to get approved to move from Pennsylvania to New Jersey. But in
North Korea, everyone’s whereabouts are strictly determined by their status and relationship with
the government. This is especially significant in one area - living in the capital of Pyongyang.
The bustling city is home to the country’s elites, and anyone trying to live there unauthorized
would be subject to strict punishment. Some of North Korea’s strange laws might actually
have some positives - at first glance at least. It probably hasn’t been too long since you skipped
an election. Maybe you thought both candidates were bums. Maybe the incumbent was going to win
by 30 points and you just didn’t see the point. Or maybe you were just too busy binging
YouTube videos. In most countries, that’s fine - but in North Korea, elections to choose
party leaders are serious business, and anyone eighteen or over is legally required to vote. The
problem is, North Korea is a one-party state and elections are virtually uncontested. But hey, at
least they can boast about high voter turnout. And this isn’t the only unexpected responsibility. School in North Korea is very different than
in most countries. Not only is there a heavy dose of government training, but supplies
are lacking in the best of times. Of course, in other countries kids have to bring their own
supplies to school - things like pens and pencils, notebooks, and maybe a calculator for math class.
But in North Korea, school kids could get into trouble if they don’t bring their own desks
or chairs to class. Not only would that not fit in the backpack, but it might be a financial
hardship to the many poor people in the country. And don’t expect too many conventional
luxuries to be readily available. How many times a day do you use electricity
without even thinking about it? It can be as simple as flipping the light on and off when you
go to the bathroom. We don’t think of this as a luxury, but in North korea electricity is in short
supply and is strictly rationed - as is seen in a stunning viral photo of the Korean peninsula.
It’s so bad that North Korea cuts off the power every night once the day’s business is
done, plunging people’s homes into darkness. And certain power-sapping devices like
microwaves are completely illegal to own Even expressing yourself
isn’t easy in North Korea. In most countries, getting a new haircut or
style is a traditional way of showing some harmless rebellion as a teenager. It’s not a
phase, mom! I’m keeping my neon green mohawk! But rebellion comes with a much
higher cost, and every choice you make can arouse the ire of the state. North
Korea has a carefully curated list of official hairstyles - eighteen for men and fifteen for
women - and any person who has an off-the-books style will be subject to interrogation
and potential arrest for disloyalty. Men aren’t supposed to keep their hair
longer than two inches - and you bet the security guards have rulers. Changing up your
hair color is also a no go, and of course, trying to mimick Kim Jong-Un’s distinctive
hairstyle will lead to sever punishment. This next one might not be
Kim Jong-Un’s fault, exactly. It can be stressful traveling in a foreign
country, and sometimes you want a taste of familiarity. You head into the local convenience
store, look for a cold, refreshing bottle of Coca-Cola - and come up empty. Why is the
beloved beverage not available in North Korea? The primary responsibility falls on international
sanctions that make it illegal to sell certain goods to North Korea - and Coca-Cola is considered
a luxury good. While some high-end stores might sell a varient produced in China, you can bet only
the elite are likely to get their hands on it. This next one seems like it’s a
problem for a country in poverty. In most countries, responsible
family planning is seen as a virtue. Education about birth control is often taught
in schools - to much snickering from little boys who just learned some things and will
never look at a banana the same way again. But in North Korea, all forms of birth
control are banned. While hormonal birth control is rarer and many people in the poor
country would have a hard time getting it, this even extends to condoms. That’s created
a small black market in the rubber business, as it’s common for adult males to get a pack as a
present if a friend can get ahold of it. Awkward. They seem to want you to have a lot of
kids - but where are they going to stay? It’s one of the great rites of adulthood in
most countries - getting your own place for the first time. While most people rent at
first, there’s a great sense of pride when you sign on the dotted line and buy your
first house or condo. But in North Korea, no one owns their own house and there’s
only one landlord - the state. North Korea maintains the exclusive rights to all land and
property within the country’s borders, and most people’s abode is chosen by the state. However,
a black market in real estate in recent years has led to some laws being liberalized. Can’t
execute everyone with an aircraft gun, I guess. It’s not the only way the
government gets invasive. We live in a digital society, and it’s bridged the
gap. For most people, calling Cousin Rudolf who lives in rural Liechtenstein is a simple task -
although it may be invasive. But for those living in North Korea, getting a word in or out can be
more difficult. Very few people own cell phones, and those that do have their service heavily
restricted and monitored by the government. One thing that’s strictly banned? Making
phone calls outside of the country, including to neighboring countries like South
Korea or China, where many people have relatives. Just because North Korea has neighbors
doesn’t mean they’re not a world apart. If you ask most people what they think about when
they hear “Korea” right now, they’ll probably talk about K-Pop - especially if they’re young. Bands
like BTS have swept the globe, getting a massive number of adoring fans in countless countries
- except one. Kim Jong-Un has maintained his father’s ban on western media - and that includes
popular music from their next-door neighbor. But don’t worry, North Korean music lovers, you
can attend concerts from his hand-picked bands. They typically mimic the fashion and style of the
outside bands - but with a strong political bent. At least you can probably watch TV, right? Not quite. While your hotel in the tourist sector
might have a TV, don’t expect to keep up on your favorite shows or watch some Wheel of Fortune.
North Korean TVs only have four approved TV stations, all either showing government propaganda
or approved entertainment from the country. The TVs run on a closed network, so don’t even think
about trying to pick up some unapproved channels - being in possession of outside entertainment
can be a capital crime in North Korea. And there’s one device, in particular,
you shouldn’t expect to find. Are you one of those tech jockeys who can’t
stand to be without your iPhone for too long? You probably shouldn’t be planning a trip to
North Korea. Not only is the use of outside devices restricted within the country, but it’s
a double whammy for Apple lovers. The powerhouse tech company is prohibited from selling or
supplying any of their expensive gadgets to North Korea due to the US sanctions against
the Hermit Kingdom. So the only people with these devices are the leadership, who always
seem to be able to smuggle them in somehow. It’s not the only familiar sight
you’ll miss in North Korea. It’s a common pastime of tourists - they miss
home, so they seek out something new and familiar. Sure, the locals may sneer at the Americans
eating McDonalds in the middle of Paris, but no one’s stopping them. In North
Korea, though, most western chains are banned. Not only does Kim Jong-Un not
want Western influence in the country, but sanctions keep many businesses out. That
means you won’t be able to get that Big Mac Attack cured in North Korea, nor will you be
able to get your favorite Frap at Starbucks. So what do North Koreans do for
entertainment anyway? The answer is…not much. When North Korea launched nuclear tests in
2017, countries around the world responded by tightening sanctions. North Korea’s response
was to make sure their public couldn’t express any negative feelings about this downturn in
their economy…by instituting a ban on singing or drinking in public. The ban targeted public
gatherings where people could get out of control and start letting their true feelings about
the regime fly. Better to keep that behind closed doors, after all. It’s not like the
government should know what the people think. It’s not even easy to get the news in North Korea. In other countries, if you want to find out what
happened on a certain day, you look up that paper in the library or on a website. But in North
Korea, newspapers are treated more like state secrets. You can’t go back into the archives -
and you can’t even buy one to take home. Like many North Korean policies, this might be due to
the government wanting to maintain strict control of the flow of information - and not have anything
exist to contradict them. So how do you read the newspaper in North Korea? They’re put on display
in subway stations, and people gather around public boards to get a look. I wonder what North
Korean Garfield will be up to in the comics pages… Not even the normal holidays we celebrate
are the same in the Hermit Kingdom. North Korea is an officially atheist
country, with a ban on all religions and a state-sponsored mythology surrounding the
Kim family. Owning religious paraphernalia is banned - but this even extends to some things
that are considered secular by many people now. Most notably - don’t even think about
owning a Christmas tree. In fact, nothing related to the world-famous holiday is
allowed in North Korea. So watch out, Rudolph. Stay in colder climates, Frosty. North Korea’s
got all of you on their own personal naughty list. With rules like this, people must
be heading for the exits, right? Not so fast. While in most countries, traveling
abroad might be an easy affair - at least before 2020. If your passport was in order, you could
just hop across the border to Cancun for some R&R and be back the next day. But getting out of North
Korea for citizens is a much more arduous affair, bordering on impossible. It’s illegal
to emigrate from the Hermit Kingdom, and the line between North Korea and
South Korea is a heavily guarded DMZ. So the most common way people escape is
through the northern broder shared with China. Few make it, many are killed - but those
who do survive become an invaluable source of information for the rest of the
world about the isolated kingdom. Meanwhile, some rules apply only to tourists. Like most countries, North Korea has its own
currency, the North Korean Won. Unlike many other currencies, it doesn’t have much of a counterfeit
problem - because it’s not allowed to be brought in or out of the country. It’s only for internal
use, and they take its secrecy seriously. So seriously, that it may be the only currency in
the world that tourists aren’t allowed to use. Tourists have to use the currency of their
home country, usually Dollars, Euros, or Chinese money. And don’t even think of trying
to get some Won out of the country as a souvenir. Guess you’re stuck. Better make the
best of it. How about a game of B-ball? Just make sure you know the rules, because
basketball as you know it is illegal in North Korea. Kim Jong-Un likes to separate himself
from Western ways as much as possible, and he’s even gone so far as to change the
rules of the game in some bizarre ways. Not only do slam dunks now carry an extra bonus
point, but the game speeds up massively at the end with shots going from two points to eight
points in the last three minutes of the game. And watch your aim - teams lose a point
if a player misses three shots in a row. It doesn’t take much to stand out
as an outsider in North Korea. Sometimes all it takes is getting
the date of the year wrong. That’s right, North Korea even has its own
calendar. While much of the world goes by the standard Gregorian calendar, and some cultures
like China and Israel go by ancient traditions where the new year starts at a different
date, North Korea uses the Juche calendar, one which starts at a unique point - April
15th, 1912. That’s the date that Kim Il-Sung, the founder of the Juche system, was born -
so if you’re paying a visit to North Korea, it’s probably best not to wish
anyone a happy April Fool’s Day. If there’s one thing that defines North Korea,
it’s that they take their leadership seriously. One of the strictest rules in North Korea is that
any sort of insult towards Kim Jong-Un or the rest of the Kim clan is considered the highest of
crimes. In the US, it’s common to see people on Twitter openly insulting the President as
he tries to lay out policy - and he used to insult back! But in North Korea, something
as simple as calling the Supreme Leader fat can get you sent to a labor camp, and this
applies whether you’re a citizen or a guest. Attempted theft of an in-room poster
was enough to get an American tourist arrested and sentenced to hard labor, where
he later sustained fatal injuries in 2017. And it’s not the only way patriotism is compelled. Universal national service isn’t unusual
in countries around the world. The United States drafted soldiers in multiple wars, and in
countries like Israel and South Korea they have a universal draft. But few make it harder to get
out of the draft than North Korea - and few demand more from their young soldiers. North Korean
mandatory service applies to both men and women, and ranges from seven to ten years. Most of these
soldiers will wind up serving the government, but many may be sent to the harsh DMZ region,
where war is just one wrong move away. And it’s not the only time
your fate isn’t in your hands. How do most people in other countries choose their
profession? It’s either after an exhaustive look at possible majors they want to learn about - or
it’s by scanning the want ads to find something that pays enough. But in either case, they make a
choice. Not in North Korea, where the government will typically choose someone’s profession for
them based on their aptitude shown in school and where the government needs them, as well
as their family’s stature. For those who object to their assignment, there’s usually
another one waiting for them - forced labor. For women in North Korea,
things can be especially dicey. It’s taken for granted by women in most countries
- although purchasing them can be awkward when dad or the boyfriend gets sent instead. But not
only will sanitary products for that time of the month be available, but there’ll likely be a wide
selection of them in comforting pastel colors. However, if a tourist is expecting to need
sanitary products while in North Korea, she should take a healthy supply and hope
security lets her keep them. These products aren’t available in North Korea, mostly due
to lack of supplies for disposable products, and most women use washable sanitary pads instead. It’s not the only case where women
have fewer options in North Korea. Reproductive freedom is strictly curtailed in
North Korea - as the contraband condoms probably made clear. But it goes further than that, due
to Kim Jong-Un’s obsession with the women of North Korea producing more socialist soldiers.
Abortion is totally banned in North Korea, but the restrictions don’t end there.
Women are required to give birth alone, and are kept from meeting their husband
for a week after birth. And it’s common for children to be taken by the state
for training or adoption if the mother is deemed to be undesirable or the children are
multiples. Like most other things in North Korea, children are often considered to be
the collective property of the state. And don’t expect flowers either, mom. Mother’s Day, a popular
holiday all around the world, at first seems like one brief dose of normalcy in
North Korea. The holiday was introduced in 2012 and became popular with the public - and that
couldn’t stand. First the government decided it should honor all mothers, including the
metaphysical mother of the Workers’ Party, which they commonly call the Mother Party.
The holiday became increasingly focused on celebrating the party instead of mom, and now
it’s prohibited to send personal messages to your mother that day when you could be celebrating
the deceased members of the Kim family instead. Sometimes, things get weird on
one specific day of the week. Sunday funday, right? Not so much in North
Korea. While the weekend may be sacred for many workers in the rest of the world, things
are very different in the Hermit Kingdom. While the day is officially a day off from
standard jobs, it’s also known as a collective labor day. That means workers are often assigned
to complete large-scale jobs like paving sidewalks and cleaning up trash. Making this worse, all
cleaning must be done without the use of tools. And don’t even think about calling in sick -
the boss has a pretty strict attendance policy. But one day probably holds
the biggest risk for people. Don’t smile. Don’t even think about it. Does
thinking about it make you want to smile? Imagine if for one day a year, smiling
was considered a crime against the state. That’s the law in North Korea every July
8th, the anniversary of Kim Il-Sung’s death. Both the birthday and death day of the Juche
founder are seen as holy days in North Korea, and any sense of frivolity on the latter
is seen as a sign of a lack of mourning. It’s prohibited to smile in public or even
talk too loudly, and the police have their eyes open for anyone who doesn’t seem to be
mourning the departed leader sincerely enough. But one banned item in North
Korea made national news in 2021. It was the Korean TV show seen around
the world - Squid Game. Influenced by classics like Battle Royale, the South Korean
drama became a sensation for its tense plot, which saw ordinary citizens competing in a
series of twisted life-or-death games for a chance at fortune. Not only did people love seeing
classic children’s games turned into deathtraps when it streamed worldwide on Netflix, but many
people praised its incisive look at the failings of South Korea’s capitalist economy and how
it leaves many of its poorer citizens behind. Anti-capitalist satire? North
Korea probably loves this show! The bent of the show, condemning South
Korea’s secular capitalist culture as decadent and harmful to the poor, might have
met with Kim Jong-Un’s approval. After all, it’s pretty common for the leadership
in the country to get ahold of western media and luxury goods through smuggling. But
for the general public is a different story, and the country is under a tighter lockdown than
ever when it comes to foreign media. In 2020, the country passed the Elimination of
Reactionary Thought and Culture Act, which banned the importation of foreign
media. And that includes South Korean dramas. A few people found that out the hard way. According to Radio Free Asia, a late 2021
attempt to bring Squid Game to North Korea ended in tragedy when authorities found high school
students watching the show. The source of the leak was traced to a smuggler who managed to bring in
hard drives from China. He was sentenced to death by firing squad, the student who bought the flash
drive was given a sentence of life imprisonment, and five other students who simply watched the
show were sent to a labor camp for five years. But that doesn’t mean the Hermit Kingdom
has no use for the show. A propaganda site described Squid Game as “Depicting the sad
reality of a beastly South Korean society”. So they’re in favor of the message - just
don’t think about trying to watch it. Want to know more about this
strange country? Watch “What Is it REALLY Like Living in North Korea?”.
